Big congratulations from the whole Rannoch team to Graham Walters who, at 72, became the oldest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean after arriving in Antigua on Wednesday night.
Graham is an old friend of Charlie’s and we are all awe-inspired by what he has achieved. This marks his fifth Atlantic crossing, and fourth in his hand-made boat, George Geary, named after his grandfather.
Charlie says:
“Graham has been planning this latest row for many years. He overcame setbacks again and again in his preparation to start this row, but never gave up. It’s a lesson to all about endeavouring to realise your dreams in difficult times”.
Graham set out on his 3,000 mile voyage from Gran Canaria on the 25th January with his journey totalling 94 days, where he faced rough seas and a broken water maker.
While being made aware of the COVID-19 pandemic by his support team, he was not fully aware of the impact until approaching land, having to time his arrival to meet a curfew in Antigua.
Graham undertook this final ocean crossing to raise money for Help for Heroes. He chose to fund raise for this charity after seeing team Row2Recovery participate in the 2015 Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. Impressed by their determination, he did his final crossing to raise funds for sick veterans.
We are so impressed by Graham’s determination, what an achievement!